Microsoft: It may take up to six weeks for your love of Windows 8 to fully blossom

This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

The new head of Windows — Sinofsky’s successor — Julie Larson-Green says it takes Windows 8 users between “two days and two weeks” to grow accustomed to the new Metro Start screen, Charms bar, and other Windows 8 interface changes. Furthermore, after six weeks, Larson-Green says that users start using new/Metro features, rather than seeking out the old, familiar Windows desktop features.

This data comes from Microsoft’s own telemetry, which is provided by (millions of) users who opt into the Customer Experience Improvement Program. The CEIP sends anonymized usage data to Microsoft so that it can see how its software is being used, and thus make adjustments in the future. Microsoft famously used CEIP data to justify the removal of the Start menu (it showed that the Start menu had been superseded by the taskbar). According to Larson-Green, 90% of users find both the Charms menu and the Start screen during their first session. It isn’t clear if these figures are for desktops, touch-screen devices, or both.

Larson-Green, in an interview with Technology Review, also defends the lack of a real tutorial to explain Windows 8’s new features. She says that tutorials are “comforting,” but that users don’t actually retain much of the information, making them a waste of time. It’s still a bit sad that only 90% of users find the Start screen, though; that means that a full 10% of Windows 8 users navigate to the Desktop… and then can’t find their way back. Presumably they eventually just reboot their computer to return to the Start screen.

This does not count as a tutorial

The most interesting tidbit, of course, is that it takes between two and six weeks to appreciate Windows 8’s new features, and to actually begin using the Metro Start screen. Larson-Green doesn’t break it down, but presumably she’s talking about people using Metro apps and live tiles, rather than traditional Desktop apps and taskbar pinning. There are two ways of interpreting this data: First, is switching to Windows 8 worth the two-to-six-week readjustment period? Second, while it obviously takes some time to adjust, maybe the situation isn’t quite as bad as some noisy critics would have us believe. Last week there was a hilarious story about a MIT professor who couldn’t get his head around Windows 8 — and yet the stats clearly show that average users have no problem coming to grips with Windows 8, given a little time.

This is not a tutorial[/caption]Perhaps more importantly, though, Larson-Green’s stats only illustrate how long it takes to use Windows 8’s new features — they give us no indication how long it takes for users to become proficient or professional. Yes, these stats who that humans are good at adapting, but we still have no idea whether the Windows 8 interface is actually more efficient or easier to use than Windows 7. Yes, I might start using the Start screen after a month — but is that necessarily a good thing, or am I merely the loser of a war of attrition?

Tagged In

I’ve had win 8 on a desktop since last February and everything you do takes as many as 3 extra steps compared to win7, everything from shutting down to closing a program or web page is unduly complicated. This is by far the worst windows ever and I have been using windows since 1981. I finally just installed one of this start button programs and now use it like win7. Apparently, this is designed to run soley on some type of a touchscreen, which none of my computers have.

Jesse Lee

That’s right because of M$’s Apple envy they are going to stupid lengths to copy apple and now they are paying for it. At this rate if M$ doesn’t stop they will either die out or get sold to another company.

That is the real story here, and that is what the writers should be writing about. Microsoft gave us a lot of great technology over the past 30 years, but they have been infected with a cancer that is eating them from the inside-out. Windows 8 is merely a manifestation of this cancer. The cancer is rooted in a steady loss of competence over the past decade.

It is really sad to see some gray-hair Microsoft engineer who stayed up countless late nights swinging hard, sacrificing time that shoulda been spent with family, swimming a sea of technological innovation, just so we could all enjoy our experience, finally packing up his office belongings after 20 years of service and walking out because he became too frustrated with the cancer, the cancer whose greatest recent contributions to the advancement of technology is gimmicky tricks like eliminating the ability to play DVD’s so that we can be more inclined to sign-up to Microsoft’s music services. Sad.

It’s not too late though. Microsoft needs to get back to the business of innovation. I will never upgrade to Windows 8, but I will consider Windows 9 if they fix this mess. And please: Fire the charlatans.

They’re not key combinations of the latest and greatest OS they are the same key combinations that have been around for 20 years. The initial complaint was that tasks took more steps than in previous OSes. The fact of the matter is if you knew how to use the OS in the first place the steps to accomplish the task never changed.

ET

Then why bothered to upgrade? Don’t see the logic? If it’s the same or worse, it has NO improvements? If it was designed for touch screens, why retains key combinations? Simply put – it has no design concept in mind, just for people like you who only pay attentions to “version number” and the rest is irrelevant.

Really a pointless babble! The point is it sucks. Getting used to it or understanding it is not the point!

Dustymack

Its like the entire OS was built to push you to an online store to buy “apps” that where made by fly by night programers. Almost sounds like another OS I don’t use. Linux is getting better looking by the day.

I wish people would start focusing more on what you just said, Dusty, which is so true. We are too focused on whether we “like” the Windows 8 start screen, etc. But there is a more important story here, and it’s that Microsoft is trying to lock-in their user base [like another company]. This story is more important because it gives us a pretty good idea of what’s coming down the chute from Microsoft.

We need to remind Microsoft of the reason that we stick to Microsoft: because they DON’T try to force us to do things a certain way, lock us in, and milk us like cows [OK, they try a little bit every now and then, but Windows 8 went galactic with this detestable strategy.]

It is windows 7 or Linux. If I have to modify my PC just for it to work right I might as well go Linux.

matt

I for one do not recommend using Linux unless you are a complete computer nerd. After using Ubuntu Linux for a while I had to give up because any program not specifically designed to run on that operating system needs an emulator to do so. The Windows emulator called wine (so far the only semi reliable emulator) frequently doesn’t work and has numerous bugs. It may seem better at first but you are much better off with a Mac.

Until you realize you paid 50% more for the same hardware for an operating system that forces you into their locked in garden and has no idea how to not lay claims that they own every little thing they have taken from others (rounded corners, unlock sliders, etc). Apple products are bandwagons, nothing more. They look nice, but you can get better features for less by staying away from them.

As far as programs .. well duh? Would you expect to run a product made for Windows on your Mac without an emulator? That argument is foobar.

Ben

No I can just install any version of windows on mac, natively and then run anything I like ??? Microsoft have nothing left to offer me now. From a 20 + year linux, microsoft & apple user.

jezz2k .

Fubar, not foobar. It means “fvcked up beyond all repair”, for when any gadget cannot be repaired. So, yeah, spelled incorrectly and used incorrectly too. Way to go!

Again, irrelevant. Less effort, more effort… all matter of personal opinion. What matters is reliability, stability, compatibility, & overall annoyance level to users that matter. And everyone is experiencing Windows 8 crashing on them way too frequently. That is the issue! Any moron can learn to use Windows 8 but point is most are annoyed with it. Life is too short to use annoying things in your personal free home life. Lokk for massive downgrades to 7 or people buying iMacs in droves!

JDRahman

It also takes 6 weeks for any girl on the planet to fall in love with me, provided she spends her time exclusively with me.

So close, yet so far away…

Jesse Lee

You just talking nonsense Please stay on topic.

JDRahman

Who the hell are you? 6 weeks baby, and you’re mine
lol

Jesse Lee

I’m not going to spend 6 weeks Trying to love Windows 8 with its butt ugly metro UI and the fact that some don’t work under Windows 8 makes it unusable.

It’s worse than ‘BUTT UGLY’– how can you go from something as nice looking as Aero to this multiple colored turd in one revision?? Windows 8 was a punisher– a punisher of eyes. Windows 8 is the Meg of OSes.

It’s worse than ‘BUTT UGLY’– how can you go from something as nice looking as Aero to this multiple colored turd in one revision?? Windows 8 was a punisher– a punisher of eyes. Windows 8 is the Meg of OSes.

JP

NO CHANCE ITS HORRIBLE

Points

Windows 8 just leaves one wondering: “What in the world were they thinking?” Yet another excellent reason to use a different OS. One company making a very bad choice is one thing, but I really don’t understand the computer manufacturers shipping machines with this atrocity installed. Microsoft seems to be willing to alienate itself right out of the market with this latest move.

Jesse Lee

Windows 8 SUCKS that’s fact I’ve used it before so I would know. M$ has apple envy and its going to end badly for them. Its about time that they get pegged down a few notches.

NicolaMantovani

very funny definition of “fact”. go troll somewhere else.

Jesse Lee

Not just trolling I actually used Windows 8 consumer preview and it pretty much SUCKED Big Time. My network would go on and off and Bioshock didn’t work at all in fact some of my favorite steam didn’t work with Windows 8 and I don’t think M$ fix most of those bugs. Plus 2 UI’s is so cumbersome and the Metro UI is BUTT UGLY.

Joel Detrow

>> used the Consumer Preview
>> surprised when some games didn’t work

Jesse Lee

Games that probably won’t work in Windows 8. They both have the same BUTT UGLY Metro UI and Desktop UI.

Myles

Okay you don’t like W8, we get it. Stop commenting on everyone’s posts!

NicolaMantovani

he has nothing funny to do, apparently.

Hsialin

Who made you king?

Kevin Wang

You shut the **** up. People can comment on whichever post they want.

Kevin Wang

Hell yeah man, I bought GTA IV on Amazon and found out it couldn’t be installed on Windows 8. But I somehow managed to use that shitty compatibility troubleshooter and started playing the game.

Hsialin

What jesse said was 100% true.

NicolaMantovani

tecnically he said nothing, so it can’t be true anyway. keep raging at thin air though, it’s funny to imagine something like this while it’s going on.

greybirdtoo

I’s not a fact, it’s an _opinion_. Look up the definition of fact. It may be a widely held opinion, but it’s still an opinion.

max999

More like “What were they smoking”. This is nothing new just a rehash of the same spin. M$ has been saying this all along. I’ve been using Win8 (DP, CP & RP) for a over a year now and I still think it’s the dumbest thing they have tried to pull off. I’ll stick with Windows 7.

Jesse Lee

Julie Larson needs her head examined because she’s AN IDIOT.

GatzLoc

Wasn’t it 6 weeks in 1984 where after that amount of torture you ‘love’ big brother too?

rickcain2320

Obedience is not enough, you must love Big Brother, you must love him. -O’Brien, “1984)

I’ve been using Win8 since the consumer previews. I agree with Larson-Green. Win8 is the foundation of a new age of computing. My computer is finally fun to use, something I dearly wished for since I am not gamer. I can’t wait to see how windows will look as metro develops and matures. Death to the desktop. In addition, I think only people from older generations are having difficulties with win8. My generation gets around pretty easy, and so will future generations.

Jesse Lee

How is having to use 2 UI’s FUN unless you’re idiot. IT’S BUTT UGLY and Very Cumbersome to use I would rather not use it.

Sorry, I cannot respect you opinion as you have only came off as an highly opinionated douche. First of all, I am not an idiot. Far from it. Second of all, you may find it butt ugly, I don’t. Win 8 is a good departure. Win 7 was a good os, but boring. It even made me more tempted to go OS X. I do believe that Win 8 is cumbersome for generations before me, but my generation shouldn’t have issues (if they do, shame on them, no offense).

Jml

Its boring and simple but it works and doesn’t try confuse me or not run 1/2 my apps.

Michael Clapp

Are you using it on a desktop or a tablet with a touchscreen? I’ve used both now and the tablet isn’t horrible. Not great but not horrible. For a non-touchscreen device it just sucks. The only thing I like about it is that they finally stripped down the system requirement instead of bloating like every other previous version.

Yeah. I have upgraded my laptop to Win 8 and I have a surface rt. I like win 8 on desktop. In fact, I have little issues with it. I do think touch screen laptop suits it better. My biggest pet peeve is that the desktop doesn’t fit with the metro design language and needs to. In addition, MS needs consolidate some options in desktop and metro.

Eventually everyone will have wires in their brains and talk directly with skynet. And since that will happen eventually, everyone who doesn’t do that today is a doddering luddite.

Only young people matter, the productivity of experienced workers is unimportant.

NicolaMantovani

fun fact of the day: she’s right. the interwebz is wrong.

Jesse Lee

SHE IS WRONG THE WEB IS RIGHT ON THIS ONE!!!

NicolaMantovani

“the web” right now is a couple hundred something guys raging and screaming on comment boards, for no real reason.
half of them next year will use windows 8 anyway. this is just history repeating.

Jesse Lee

Wrong none of them will use Windows 8. They will either Use Windows XP, Windows 7, or Linux.

NicolaMantovani

windows X….ahahahahahahahaha now you’re just wasting our time. i could barely understand suggesting linux, but XP? nevermind the fact that it is shit, but it will also go out of support soon (THANK FUCKING GOD).

Jesse Lee

Then your an idiot. Even without M$ support people are still going to use it same goes for Windows 7. People don’t like change and Windows 8 is a huge change AND NOT FOR THE BETTER.

NicolaMantovani

only an idiot would use XP. it’s shit, it’s twelve years old for god’s sake. do you still use a dot-matrix printer? or crt monitors?

castingcouch

And works just fine.

NicolaMantovani

only if you are a luddite. for once, memory management on xp is pure shit, try idling a few minutes and see where your memory goes (hint: swapped to the hard disk)

Mricehouse

Try installing XP on a new computer with modern hardware, get your driver discs out of spend some time online going to vendor websites, that is if your network card works. I’ll stick with 7 or 8.

richardramjon

I have using Windows 8 for a while now myself and I do like the new interface it feels like a step back using WIndows 7. It handles dual monitors better, I am also a heavy gamer and the games run flawlessly. Truly a very solid platform

Jesse Lee

Yeah if solid means crashing 3 times a day then you may be on to something. Not all games work under Windows 8.

Joel Detrow

Try using the full version. Consumer Preview ≠ Full Release

Jesse Lee

Their almost the same thing just as Windows 8 just with some bug fixes plus 2 UI’s is unbearable to live with if I don’t have to.

key words: bug fixes. ive been using 8 since around the time it went on sale and it hasn’t crashed once and every game i’ve thrown at it works flawlessly, and in most cases i get better performance than i did using w7.

Jesse Lee

You got better performance because Aero in Windows 8 is turned off. 2 UI deal really kills it for me. I don’t own any tablets and even then Win RT is the last OS I ever use for tablets because its BUTT UGLY.

Mricehouse

I’ve been using Windows 8 since the first beta on up to the pro version on an old laptop, it hasn’t crashed once, I can run all my Adobe CS5 programs on it and no issues. Try that on Linux.

NicolaMantovani

they are not the same. go be a raging linux zealot somewhere else. whoever uses beta level software to judge a product doesn’t belong in tech discussions, especially if he talks while skipping fucking bug fixes.

meddle0ne

I have W8 on 5 computers (two laptops, HTPC, desktop, RT tablet) and haven’t had a single crash. I can’t say the same for W7. It seems that they have given the metro start screen a high priority. Even when some crappy desktop application hangs I have always been able to instantly switch to the start screen breaking up what ever crazy divide by zero nutzo binary BS loop it’s stuck in. My much more expensive W7 work laptop loves to freeze and can only be unstuck by waiting for it to decide it’s time or task manager.

Jesse Lee

Yes they gave the Metro Screen too much priority and NOW M$ is paying for it.

richardramjon

lol don’t blame faulty hardware on the OS I have never had a crash on the three machines that I updated to windows 8

Jesse Lee

Maybe but the confusing UI system in windows 8 in addition to metro which is so BUTT UGLY it makes me want to puke.

Michael Clapp

It’s bad design and Larson-Green is either spinning it best she can or believes it. Bill Gates needs to take the top half of their management structure out behind the mansion and do an Old yeller because they don’t get it. They see a decline in desktop growth so they go all in with something that both pisses off their installed base and does things worse.

Having setup two machines now its also obvious that they either have no people doing out of the box experience testing or they ignore and overrule them. Either way it sucks. I don’t want to go Apple and my head isn’t pointy enough to desire the Linux experience. I just wish MS would get something close to a clue.

Julie Larson-Green actually believes the crap that she is spewing. She is the one who pushed the tiles in the first place. Look it up. What an idiot.

Richard Bertrand

Do anyone, including Microsoft, think the enterprise has time to wait for employees to wait a few days much less six weeks to start to get work done. Work needs to be done immediately, not while folks learn to use an operating system.

Not if StartIsBack or some other third-party mod to hide as much of Metro as possible isn’t installed.

NicolaMantovani

anybody with more than 2 brain cells can figure this out. when you install a desktop program, where do the shortcuts to launch it go? desktop and/or start screen. see icon -> click icon -> profit.

poster

I think they’re right. I’ve just purchased 8Pro upgrade at newegg only because of the desperate (right?) promotion pricing. It’ll be nice to have legit license for once, and test few things before their Media Center Pack promo expires (kick em while they down;). In six weeks or so (hopefully sooner) I’ll get the 40$ rebate card that will go towards the purchase of … Android tablet. Just a way of stating my appreciations for stupid things they pulled in 8. When I paid 50$ for upgrade to 7 I was getting fully functional system (media codecs and such) and negligible number of attempts to do things MS like me to do (right or wrong it’s none of MS business how I use my system). And if MS hopes to get some share through their Store or get me to sign in to system through their cloud account they simply don’t get it. Not that I hoped they’ll learn anything before releasing version 9 of Windows-like OS.

Jesse Lee

I would rather not buy M$ Windows 8 at any price because it SUCKS LIKE S**T. M$ is trying to copy apple in locking everyone but themselves out to make more money. They think if it works for apple it’ll work for them. Thanks for brain-dead move m$ you just made Linux more popular THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

Any User Interface out there that takes days, weeks and months to get used to it’s just a huge failure and a design joke.

Any good and well designed UI should be immediately usable. It shouldn’t even take hours to be put in full use by any novice.

The UI must be understood by anyone, you don’t need to be a programmer/developer nor a graphics artist or designer to just use a damn UI.

NicolaMantovani

sure man, keep dreaming. every new ANYTHING needs time to get USED to, it’s the very definition of the word. meanwhile, she also said that almost everybody gets the basics on the first run. you fanboys can’t even read correctly lol.

lordmycal

Not true. I’ve seen 2 and 3 year old kids capable of figuring out and using iOS. I’m a computer expert and I couldn’t even figure out how to log out without googling it or resorting to the command line.

Jesse Lee

iOS is easy to use M$ windows 8 is a confusing cluster F**K.

NicolaMantovani

they imitate and absorb everything, like a sponge.

and for the record, my nephew of less than 4 yr can use W8 without problems, even the *gasp* start screen, and he didn’t seem to find the desktop *jarring*.

ain’t anecdotes fun?

castingcouch

I guess your 4-year-old has lots of experience using previous versions of Windows, huh? I’m sure he can articulate the difference in user interface designs too. Must be some kind of genius.

NicolaMantovani

he used windows 7 for a while. but you don’t have to be a genius to recognize a IE tile or a wide solitaire / mahjong tile after pushing the windows key. only someone with Alzheimer wouldn’t be able to do this.

but hey, thanks for trying man, keep using XP while you are here (which is perfectly fine, unless you start saying that XP is a perfectly fine OS in 2013…oh wait, you already did that too)

Really?
And what did he do with it? Is he editing anything, in Office? Or perhaps doing some Photoshop work… or is he using Windows 8 like the simple menu on most kiddy games?

NicolaMantovani

we were talking about moving inside the OS, not using specific programs. once you figure what is the start menu and how to launch a desktop program, you’re good to go. read again and better luck next time

Mricehouse

The Windows 8 start screen is much more organized than XP, all your programs are right there no scrolling down a cascading menu and digging down into folders. You can also pin your desktop programs on the task bar just like in Windows 7. I see all these comments (Barrie Jones & others) made and I would bet nobody has ever used Windows 8, maybe played with it in a store or just believe the crap other people are posting.

NicolaMantovani

my bet goes together with yours.

NicolaMantovani

we were talking about moving inside the OS, not using specific programs. once you figure what is the start menu and how to launch a desktop program, you’re good to go. read again and better luck next time

Hsialin

Lets see your 4 yr old start up MSVC or C++Builder and write programs using the fisher price interface.

NicolaMantovani

this is sad, I have to copy and paste something I’ve already said 4 posts below:

“we were talking about moving inside the OS, not using specific programs. once you figure what is the start menu and how to launch a desktop program, you’re good to go. read again and better luck next time”

really, it feels like I’m talking to people who lacks basic reading comprehension.

NicolaMantovani

like i said below:

“we were talking about moving inside the OS, not using specific programs. once you figure what is the start menu and how to launch a desktop program, you’re good to go. read again and better luck next time”

you fail at basic reading comprehension, really.

Mricehouse

alt-f4 is pretty simple for log out/shutdown/restart/sleep/switch user. took me about a minute to figure that out. But what do I know I’m no computer expert, only been building them for 20 years and my first OS was Xenix, now that was confusing because you couldn’t google an answer, you had 5 2″ thick books to read.

“alt-f4 is pretty simple for log out/shutdown/restart/sleep/switch user. took me about a minute to figure that out.”

Let’s see, all those hundreds of potential key combinations and YOU figured it out on your own in under 60 seconds?
Uh huh… and no one told you that, or you didn’t read it anywhere? Or were you just lucky? Or it isn’t a standard that you already knew from other software…

Clever… and I suppose everyone else is as clever as you…

Mricehouse

Alt+f4 has been used for years to close a window or program, so I figured I’d try it and see what it did. Nothing clever about that. Have you tried Windows 8?

“alt-f4 is pretty simple for log out/shutdown/restart/sleep/switch user. took me about a minute to figure that out.”

Let’s see, all those hundreds of potential key combinations and YOU figured it out on your own in under 60 seconds?
Uh huh… and no one told you that, or you didn’t read it anywhere? Or were you just lucky? Or it isn’t a standard that you already knew from other software…

That means that her brain is developed enough to recognized the atrocious mess that Microsoft has made of a very good operating system (Windows 7) while attempting to lock-in their significant customer base.

Oh…and the “It’s so much faster than XP/Windows 7” mantra…doesn’t cut mustard with me.I am an engineer and Microsoft loyalist of 28 years with deep knowledge of how computers work. Windows 8 is faster in some areas than Windows 7, not because Windows 8 is engineered better, but because Microsoft eliminated much of the cruft that was slowing down Windows 7. That cruft was put into Windows 7 by the same group of people at Microsoft who are currently pushing Windows 8. They are patting themselves on the back for partially undoing something bad that they themselves did.

What would be really impressive is if they removed ~all~ the cruft, Windows 8 Fisher-Price tiles included (or at least give us a choice to turn it off). Then the OS would scream.

People think Core i7’s are fast now. They have no idea.

Mricehouse

Alright mr. engineer, you can turn off the tiles with one click of the mouse. And spread you BS to someone else, Windows 8 is much faster on my 7 year old Intel T2300 Core Duo 1.6 Ghz laptop than a fresh install of XP ever was, it was barely useable even new. I can see you’re over the age of being able to embrace and learn new things. But you’re an engineer so you know everything you need to know.

Hsialin

Saying windows 8 is faster than xp is an outright LIE.

Mricehouse

It is faster, better drivers, memory management, Windows XP is full of holes even with service pack 3 and the thousands of patches and bug fixes.

I’m not sure if you’re lying. My intel core 2 Duo 2.2Ghz machine was brought to a crawl by the upgrade.

JP

WHO CARES!! ITS TERRIBLE TO USE… PLUS NONE OF MY PURCHASED PROGRAMS THAT USED TO WORK ON WINDOWS WORK ANYMORE?? SEEMS MORE LIKE A NEW VERSION OF ANDROID BUT WORSE(“WHICH I ENJOY ON A PHONE OR TABLET”) I HAVE ALWAYS PREFERED WINDOWS BUT I AM LOOSING INTEREST!!! “TAKE NOTE MS! YOU BETTER CHANGE THIS QUICK AND OFFER NEW FREE UPGRADED OS TO W8 CUSTOMERS OR ELSE LOOSE THEM FOR GOOD”……
PS I HATE APPLE COMPUTERS, AND IPHONES SUCK MORE!
MAYBE GOOGLE WILL MAKE A LAPTOP OS??

You are full of crap.. There is no way in hell ANY version of Win Vista, 7, or 8 are faster than XP.. I would take XP back in a heart beat if there were drivers for it anymore..

Mricehouse

Well you just pointed out what XP’s problem is, no drivers worth a crap. Plus I didn’t say Vista was faster, I said 7 and 8 are faster, Vista is and was junk. Sorry, my 7 year old laptop does run Win 8 much faster than it did XP because of bad out dated drivers that nobody wants to update anymore, funny how Windows 8 right away found a driver for everything. How old is XP? it’s done/over it was good but now there is better out there.

jamar0033

“funny how Windows 8 right away found a driver for everything”

I got my laptop with the $15 upgrade offer (in other words, very recently), and was without any wireless functions because this did not happen. It took a LOT of digging around to find the necessary drivers.

rickcain2320

I loved XP-64bit professional, but MS treated it like a dead product right out of the gate and hardware vendors rarely made working drivers for it.

Wait until she starts experiencing Windows 8 blue screen on an annoying basis! Again, learning to use it is not the gripe!

Mricehouse

Said it before, been using 8 since day 1, no blue screens and this is on a 7 year old laptop. You must have hardware issues.

angry

i still hate windows 8, but i’ll have to get used to it because my dad bought a laptop with windows 8 as my Christmas present. fuuu, i’m constantly telling the computer “I DIDN’T ASK YOU TO” whenever it brings me back to the start page when I accidentally swipe the Start shortcut on my touch pad. asdflkjasd;lfjaksldf aklsdjf l;djfa;lksdjf al;skdfjasdkf so angry

Jesse Lee

JUST FORMAT THE DAMN DRIVE and put LINUX ON IT There Problem solved.

TrillowFoXHD

I seriously suggest you find a copy of windows 7 to install, no point using a computer your frustrated with when you could format it and have a perfectly great one. If your not certain how to do it, you should have a friend who can :)

It took me two to six MINUTES to figure out the interface of my Kindle Fire.

The big problem is Microsoft has dumped a touch-centric operating system on computers that aren’t touch-centric. I have yet to use a touch based Windows 8 machine, so I can’t say if it works better there, but any design that doesn’t match the interface is pretty much doomed. I mean, I navigate my Kindle Fire with touch, my TV (and accessories) with a remote control, and my home computer with a keyboard and mouse.

One thing I noticed here about the removal of the ‘Start” button. They said this was due to telemetry data that came from people who chose to enable Customer Experience Improvement Program. Now, I remember from a college course about constructing surveys, it’s easy to skew your data if you haven’t carefully constructed the survey. In this case, is the way that Windows users interact with their computer different for those that enable CEIP vs those that opt out of CEIP. Do they really know how those that don’t enable CEIP actually do not use the “Start” button regularly? Also, regarding Win 8, I’ve been using it for a while and while I CAN use the Modern UI and apps, I find I don’t care for them. I finally installed “Start8” which enables a “Start” Button on the desktop and bypasses the “Start Screen” when booting up, taking me straight to the desktop. NOW Windows 8 is usable! I wonder if their telemetry tells them how many people install a “Start” button alternative? It would be an interesting survey, to be sure!

The apparent 2-6 week learning curve was an interesting point. I’m told that 50 years ago, learning a new process took a week. Now, the average is 33 days. Whether or not Win8 is worth it’s salt, I suspect the slow adoption is due largely (if not entirely) to the massive commitment required to learn something completely new…

My only gripe is the changes forced on indie development with Visual Studio Express – no more free desktop development unless you pay big bucks or go to an open source IDE…

The apparent 2-6 week learning curve was an interesting point. I’m told that 50 years ago, learning a new process took a week. Now, the average is 33 days. Whether or not Win8 is worth it’s salt, I suspect the slow adoption is due largely (if not entirely) to the massive commitment required to learn something completely new…

My only gripe is the changes forced on indie development with Visual Studio Express – no more free desktop development unless you pay big bucks or go to an open source IDE…

jcaunter

I have been growing accustomed to Linux since Windows 8 came out. I have to say, Linux is a pretty nice operating system these days. I never would have realized that but thanks to Windows 8.

Darthlawsuit

Good to know. I have been wondering about Linux since Vista but now that windows 8 came out I am seriously considering it. If I HAVE to get windows 8 it is going linux

Jesse Lee

Julie Larson-Green NEEDS TO SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!!! She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

For those that are having problems getting accustomed to the start page here is a tool that solves that problem and it’s call RetroUI. This program will first of all put the task bar and start button on the start page and it also put the task bar and start button on the desktop. So you are never without your task bar or the start button. Also if your on the desktop and want to use the Metro tiles you have access to them on the RetroUI start buttons..yes I said Buttons as in plural. RetroUI has 2 start buttons..the button on the left is for the traditional start menu and programs and the button on the right is for all your metro tiles or what ever programs you want to pin on the button. I have been using this for a couple of weeks and it is great. The main feature I like is having the task bar and start button on the Start page..it allows me to access everythingn from one page just like the old desktop…so give it a try I’m sure your going to love it. Also check out my Blog Just About Windows to find out what other options you have running windows 8. O and did I mention that the RetroUI also works on Server 2012!!

Mricehouse

Why do you need a start button? The start screen is the start button, no cascading folders to dig through. No touch screen, no problem, scroll wheel on the mouse works, can’t find the desktop, open your eyes, there’s an icon right on the start screen. Windows key + Q shows all your installed programs. It’s also a handy search tool. People are reading to much FUD and making Windows 8 seem just to hard to use.

I’m one of the people who are coming around. I had to break some old habits; I did indeed use the start button except for a taskbar browser button. I can’t remember ever using the Windows key before, but you can do so much with the WIN+ shortcuts that it’s a lot easier now than before. Basically, to me at least, the Metro screen is just one big start menu that I get to by hitting the Win key instead of clicking on the start button. I’ve been slowly grouping my applications there for convenient access.

I upgraded because I wanted the ability to run two languages, which I didn’t have with 7 Pro; the other benefits sneaked up on my. It does start up a LOT faster, for one thing.

At this point, the apps (as opposed to applications) are not appealing at all. Lots of junk, and although apps like the NYTimes are gorgeous and appealing, the price is too high for me. Biggest disappointment was with a trivial thing — the games have been ruined IMO. Too hard to crank out a couple of hands of solitaire while waiting for something to finish cranking. World of Solitaire on the Web is a great alternative.
You can’t turn off Skype in Win 8, which frosts me, and it wanted to link to my Windows Live login account without giving me a way to refuse. So no more Skype on the Win 8 computer.
Overall, though, I’m getting pretty good, and I consider the upgrade worth the $40 even without a touchscreen.

Bill Maslen

I was won over to Windows 8 when I played with a touchscreen AIO desktop recently. The OS is absolutely perfect for playing pinball – it was like playing on a gigantic iPad! I’ve no idea how productive Windows 8 is – I couldn’t drag my son (or myself) away from the pinball game. As for the rest of it – I think the fact that CEIP data was used goes to prove just how “designed by committee” Windows 8 is. The fact that Microsoft continues to refuse to listen to the millions of people who are telling them they made some seriously bad decisions simply reinforces the point: the company has degenerated into a gigantic web of committees, all chanting the committee-person’s mantra: “We can’t be wrong”.

I learned back in psychology that a habit can be established in about 7 days with the right reinforcements. But the habit can be broken in 3 days if you don’t maintain doing that activity. Learning is self motivated, thus you come into something new with a bad attitude you will take longer to develop and learn that activity. Based on the hate of Microsoft here one would assume that it will take years for them to learn to use Windows 8.

galliodon

One thing that Microsoft should have learned years ago: People like options. Software should give us those options, not just arbitrarily [and maybe even arrogantly] deciding one way as the best way and you do this or shove it. The simplest way would have been to start out with the start screen as the default — but give an icon in control panel to by-pass the start screen on start up, much as some of the myriad add-ons do [I have counted 10 of them so far.]. That would keep both the desktop and touch screen people happy.

robthom

What a mess.

I think the reason that windows desktop was a success,
is that it actually functions like the TOP OF A DESK.

50% of my windows usage is placing and manipulating files ON my desktop before storing them where they go.

The other 50 percent being clicking on the 5-6 icons on my desktop to open browsers or accessing previously stored files in the folders that I’VE designated for them.

And of course the START BUTTON being an index folder and instant access to the rest of my 50+ applications when I need them.

w8 is a facebook and ms store kiosk interface.

No thanks.

DisgruntledLlama

Agreed. I’ve had Windows 8 since it arrived pre-installed on my new laptop four weeks ago. I find that I dislike it more with each passing day. I will be installing Windows 7 on this computer… and if Windows 8 is a harbinger of where Microsoft is headed, next time I’ll save myself the trouble and just buy a Mac.

Marc

It took 1 hr to install, 1 hr to learn. Windows 8 is a fantastic tool. Cheers.

It kept all my applications, my settings, and was no fuss at all.

My SSD is a great 32 gb Readyboost. I expect to be completely installed in less than a day.

Suzanne

It isn’t really about getting our pretty little heads to learn Windows 8. I don’t own any Ipad/touch/tablet anything–my cell phone is a tracfone…that’s the kind of dinosaur I am–and I fell within the two day window of Windows mastery. I didn’t find the learning curve for this OS to be terribly steep. Yawn. Windows 8, for me, sucks for different reasons. The apps are unwieldy, slow to load, and I can only load up two at a time on my screen. I’m accustomed to being able to multi-task between at least three to four operations at a time up on my screen and Windows 8 feels like a retrograde rather than an upgrade. Someone please tell me that there’s a patch for all of this in the pipeline. And soon. ‘Cause I’m getting ready to ditch the Apple clone aka Windows 8 for the real thing. I’ll bet Apple *loves* Windows 8.

Brent

Wait a minute …. isn’t making the claim “and yet the stats clearly show that average users have no problem coming to grips with Windows 8, given a little time” just a little TOO CREATIVE for good journalism?

What the stats clearly show is that it takes TWO WEEKS before users begin using THE START SCREEN!!!

Think about that for a minute … how long after you turn on a new TV before you START using it? How long for a new phone? A new tablet or computer?

If you answered TWO WEEKS you are either a Windows 8 user, a supporting character from the movie “Mama”, or are allergic to electricity.

And I’m guessing wild monkey-children from the movie only took 2 or 3 days ….

I had 6 Months of Win 8, NO! It does not get better. After 6 months of dealing with this Time Consuming mess that Microsoft dares to call an Operating System I have nothing but a burning hatred of it. Thank God! My Employer gave the Axe to Win 8 at start of this Year.

Hsialin

Windows 8 sucks and it will not last unless they bring back classic desktop. My business does not need touch crap, we need a desktop.

China

Windows 8 is Gay and so am I.

rickcain2320

I suspect you’re just ghey

James Hopwood

I just go a new Laptop and had no choice but to get it with Windows 8, now I work in IT, I’ve been a service engineer, programmer and network engineer and have more tech certs than I know what to do with but I hated windows 8, I was with in 2 mins of removing it after trying it for over a week when i found a great start button add in, at that point Windows 8 came alive and is now usable.

I can still access “Metro” if i want to, but to be honest I don’t, it’s like being back in the windows 3.1 /.3.11 days and way too many icons on a desktop which considering how much stuff gets loaded on my systems due to my job makes it impossible to find things.

Metro is not a desktop OS it’s a tablet OS and should never have shipped as it for use in an enterprise environment, I’m sure in R2 or windows 9 we will see a option to put the start button back and boot to desktop or Metro which ever your preference.

Now don’t get me wrong I can see the point of “metro” (wait it not called that now its call the windows experience???? or something???) if you only surf the web or use social media, but I don’t and not every enterprise wants or allows that traffic on their network.

so to sum up the only 2 problems I have with Windows 8 is everything wants to tie in to a Hotmail / Microsoft on line account ( no thanks and I’m not always on the internet) and not having the option to boot to the desktop and have a start button that work so well for me an millions of others with out going through a number of after market Addon’s.

Mikikoto

Oh man, reading through these butthurt comments. Windows 8 isn’t killing any gaming, windows 8 does take some time to get used to, windows 8 DOES have improvements over Win 7 [Task Manager and better multi screen support?], Windows 8 IS faster than Win 7 on par with XP, does it take more steps to do stuff than win7? Yes but you guys over exaggerate that. Control Panel=windows key+x then click control panel, shutting down=alt+f4 on desktop. Is win8 perfect? Hell no, they could have done an extra step and made the desktop and metro work better between each other. Is it the worst Windows? No. ME was horrid, and Vista had memory leaks and performance issues. Do I hope M$ improves Win 8? Yes I do. You do not mainly use it for metro on your PC you use metro to support your usage. Hell if you don’t want metro you can just get one of the MANY metro disabling downloads. So why are you guys complaining so much about it being so “bad”? PS: don’t reply with any stupid “windows 8 crash 3 times a day”. It’s very stable

I hate Windows 8. Bought a new ASUS laptop with Win 8 at Best Buy. After trying to use it for a week I took it back and will be buying a Mac Book Pro with it’s easy to use operating system. I couldn’t even figure out how to turn the damn thing off. A longtime windows user shouldn’t be forced to buy a Wndows 8 For Dummies book to perform simple tasks. I got screwed by Microsoft with Vista, but not this time. I’m buy Apple products from now on. Charms, tiles, etc., etc is total bullshit. I still don’t know what the hell a charm is.

Steve Gibson

Just bought a washing machine with a new interface. The manufacturer says it will take 30 to 100 loads to get used to using all twenty dials this new washer. Bought a new toilet. The toilet manufacturer said it will take 10 to 30 full fledged dumps to get comfortable with the new seat. Just bought a book. The publisher says reading right to left offers superior benefits if you will only give it a try for six weeks or so. Bought a new lock for my front door. The manufacturer says the three step locking process and five step unlocking process is a major improvement unless a zombie is running towards you and you are trying to get in your house fast.

I tried to like Windows 8. I really did. It starts up and shuts down lighting fast on a SSD drive. The live tiles also look pretty nice. That’s all the positives I can think of. The rest of it just plain sucks. The metro “apps” are useless garbage. Perfect example is the google “app”. Why on earth would anyone us it when plain old google accessed via web browser blows that “app” clear out of the water? What is the point of such retarded “apps” on a desktop? There is NO point at all. NONE. It is retarded. Period.

ron s

yea,,,,,i can see business users wanted to use this tablet operating system…i even hate the looks of it,,,it looks childish

ron s

i have 5 computers, and none of them touch screen…why diid microsoft forget about me/?????

windows 8 sucks. Even windows 2000 is better than windows 8. We need more OS like XP and Seven.

Martyn Hare

It took me 6 weeks to discover how bad Windows 8 was in terms of reliability.

Under the hood, you’d think it’s awesome. That is until you try using it for more than a month. Tonight, it failed to boot 3 times, went to do Automatic Repair, which claimed the registry was corrupt and decided to perform a “rollback”. Only one problem, it didn’t back up the “corrupt” registry and the “rollback” was to a sert of 256KB files, which are empty hives.

In short: Windows 8 nuked my registry at random.

The Guurg

I have given windows 8 6 weeks to grow on me, and I have only grown to hate it more. It seems like every little thing needs to be troubleshot, and even doing what had been a mundane settings adjustment in W7 is a colossal pain. For example, I was trying to change my network location from public to private, and I have to dig through seven thousand layers of garbage just to find the blasted setting. What was the purpose of ‘hiding’ these settings, when in windows 7 I could simply open network settings and change it where it is displayed there. For me, W8 is practically a sales pitch for Linux. Uninstalling this failure tonight.

I run a computer repair store in Pawling, NY. I have found Windows 8 to be nothing but garbage and a chore to operate and configure. It might bot faster, but the novelty ends there. You have EXTREME difficulty booting to other devices because of the way Win8 inserts parts of itself into the OEM start screen, if you forget your password you’re basically screwed, and it runs like total crap on several laptops I have configured. It comes with a crapload of junk that no one wants, and I honestly don’t know what the morons at Microsoft were thinking when they slapped this idiotic interface onto the perfectly-fine Windows 7. NONE of my customers like Windows 8 and I sincerely hope Microsoft take s HUGE hit on this one, simply because of the stupidity involved in releasing this mess. It looks childish and unfinished and the interface is certainly NOT meant for a mouse and keyboard. The ONLY way Microsoft has been selling this garbage is through manufacturers, who are sticking this blob of junk onto every new machine they sell. I wouldn’t “upgrade” to Windows 8 if it was the only operating system on earth.

MeMyself&I

Decent idea. [Extremely] Poor execution. Microsoft hasn’t learned to ‘standardize’ and build upon that standardization. Every major release is an upheaval. As a tech, tools are in a different location or you need to know how to work from the command prompt. You can’t find many of them through the Win 8 search. I haven’t been able to connect many of my external hard drives. Nor can I rename my IE 9 explorer tiles. Thank you Microsoft for stuffing another lousy OS down our throats. Win 8 = VISTA = ME = SUCKS.

matt

After trying this out, I can say it really sucks. Though it is not the worst. That title belongs to Millennium Edition.

Microsoft has a hard time balancing between simplicity and advancement. They’re two totally different things, yes, but I think they did the ‘simple’ part wrong, and yeah, the design too. Now I’m not gonna rant about how OS X is more stylish etc etc.

They should seriously consider our opinions as consumers. Microsoft is getting too arrogant that Windows is the most widely used computer OS in the world. Sure enough, it might be their downfall.

I cannot think of enough swear words to launch at Windows 8. They totally destroyed the 10 or whatever years I learned on how to operate Windows. I just tried to direct someone over the phone on how to bring up an app on Windows 8 with zero success, even though I know how to do it fine on Windows 7. I guess Microsoft has to justify their existance somehow.

rickcain2320

Because everybody loves a colorful, constantly moving and flipping tile metro screen that makes people with ADHD go into fits, kids with epilepsy fall on the floor foaming at the mouth, and your confused grandmother calling you every day asking how to get to her e-mail.

rickcain2320

Microsoft learned nothing from their own experiences. The REAL interface they needed to put was the one used in their Surface tabletop computer.

Kevin Wang

screw you microfsoft, you are just doing whatever you can to discomfort and DISGUST your users. Those freakin ugly and useless tiles, lack of start menu, the inability to boot directly into the desktop environment, cannot boot into a second OS because of that sh*tty UEFI Secure Boot… Those four statements are my personal opinion toward this shittiest OS we’ve ever made. But GREAT THANKS to Stardock, their Start8 brought the old familiar start menu back to me.

And BTW, this article apparently has some fake data in it. Takes up to six weeks… Oh my god I’ve been using this shit for 3 months and my HATE of Windows 8 has just fully blossomed.

Chris Poland

You can prove anything with statistics. 72% of all people know that.

Chris Poland

“When we removed the start menu we found that people used the start screen”. Ya, no kidding? Too bad that stat pulling software can’t record irritation level of everyone who has to go through 3 extra steps to do most common tasks. The only thing that makes Windows 8 less irritating is the start menu replacement that I use.
“Metro” apps thus far have been an epic fail. Who wants to have a single window context unless your on a tablet? The “emmersive” experience is frankly less capable thus far.

“adjust to”… There is nothing worth adjusting to. This is an infuriating step back from everything that was called good graphic design of operating systems, programs, etc. The “adjustment” is forced and unnecessary – it is not what the user wants, it’s what the company felt like doing.

Seems like the policy now is that if the company thinks people should be forced to learn how to use this OS instead of sticking to the perfectly good Windows 7 (or whatever could be developed out of it in the future) just because it is proud of this miscarriage of a creation, then of course, they must be right, that is so!

But fine, the greatest problem is that even those who refuse to work with Windows 8 have the design forced into their programs – I personally have just calmed down after the fit I experienced when I learned the hard way that Hotmail had not only become Outlook (which I first thought would be rad) but also adopted the empty, option-less, uncreative squarish design of ‘8. What happens then? – Everything attractive about Skype’s window design is thrown out said window and replaced with… you guessed it… four ugly little black and white shit-signs.

We’re returning to the stone age of such things as “personalization” and “accessibility”. Stone age disguised as innovation.

Getting accustomed to it is not what is annoying users now is it? All the articles miss the point & the gripes of users. Why? It is quickly becoming the champion of blue screen! That is annoying people.

anothercritic

Let Windows 8 be a lesson to young computer science students studying algorithms–just because your algorithm runs in constant, logarithmic, or linear time does not mean that you can design an unfriendly software interface. Every time I take 5 steps to do something that Windows 7 allowed me to do in 3, I feel for the poor software engineer who slaved away at trying to get marginal speed increases. I just obliterated whatever progress they made when I took the extra time to get past Windows’ menus.

windows 8 is the ugliest OS I’ve ever seen. Period! I run a small internet business and just had to buy two desktops and went wholly out of my way to avoid Win8. My desktop do not have a single icon on them and they devise a start screen filled with massive hideous purple icons? Whoever designed this thing clearly did not have aesthetics in mind! Ill stick to win7 Ult thank you very much.

I don’t really understand what Microsoft are trying to do with Windows 8 ? Is taking six weeks to get the most out of metro something to rave about ? They may as well just admit they have made a huge mistake with 8 and go back to the drawing board.

Rhys Kempen

I believe that the whiners that moan about it are too cheap to have a touch screen. Windows 8 is definitely optimised for touch screen.

I found is strange to begin with too bit am growing to love it…

I like flicking through stuff with my fingertips.

I just got an Asus ultrabook with an I3 core for just over $600… it will not be long before even the cheapos that downloaded a bootlegged version on their CRT monitor that they got from the dump for $5 will also begin to be able to enjoy the experience…

It has never crashed on me once. I too was confused at first after using win 7 since it was in Beta… once I realised I had to forget the old way it became alot easier.

I like it.

I see this type of interface being the way of the future.

draKM

Windows 8.x. is crapware. I refuse to sell a system with it, and I now have something I hate even more than iOS.

Love the machine

It baffles me to think that anyone wouldn’t love Windows 8. It makes your life so much easier by making all of the important decisions for you – how to organize your desktop, and what size the icons should be, etc. It even changes the settings that it chose when it decides that you must be getting tired of them. You don’t even have to go through the hassle of agreeing to restart Windows when updates have finished installing. It just goes ahead and does what is best for you. If you are lucky, the WebEx meeting with that important overseas client needed to be cut short anyway. And don’t get me started on how Windows conveniently decides not to do what you foolishly told it to by selecting things like which networks to automatically connect to, or where to save downloads. Windows know better than you, so accept it into your heart. While you are at it, you might want to invest in a much bigger hard drive to satisfy Windows’ lust for free disk space. That 100GB free space will be eaten up before you know what Windows even needs it for. Windows deserves all the love you can give it.
Excuse me, Windows is calling for its evening blood sacrifice. Enjoy the experience Microsoft has provided for you.

matthew lee

been using windows since win 95. hell I even had ME. win8 is by far the worst. for those that say ‘shouldn’t have upgraded’ I was forced to. I bought windows 7 64bit pro from windows website. after 6 months they cancelled it so I called em. they told me it was a developers keycode and that they would not refund it I was told I had to buy windows 8. this is stupid. as for win8 watch the ads ‘runs all my old programs’ does it hockeypuck. all I can play is wow and 2 of my music cd’s. ive had the vid conference and was informed that the indian branch (country not the people) were illegaly forcing people to buy windows 8 but Microsoft had no proof for a court case. they didn’t refund my money or give me a new win7 code and no amount of poking or prodding got any of my programs to play even with the compatilbility wizard or administrator rights. its a stupid setup designed for windows phones. they’ve released it as an operating system because they were not selling of their phone’s. the sooner we see this for the bag od crap it is the better

ccjs

I got a new Yoga for my BD with Windows 8 on it and I despise it. I am not an 18 year old bimbo who has to be entertained. I want quick and functional not pretty pictures. I am returning it.

This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

ExtremeTech Newsletter

Subscribe Today to get the latest ExtremeTech news delivered right to your inbox.